Telegram made the announcement to its Indian users through a message; the price has been slashed to INR 179 per month from INR 469
In all the other markets in the world, Telegram Premium costs between $4.99 (INR 408) to $6 (INR 491) per month
Telegram sees India, where it has amassed around 120 Mn users, as a key market
Instant messaging platform Telegram has slashed the price of its premium subscription service to INR 179 per month from INR 469 per month for its Indian users.
The messaging platform announced the change to its Indian users through a message from its official channel.
Interestingly, in all the other markets in the world, Telegram’s premium subscription costs between $4.99 (INR 408) to $6 (INR 491) per month. Therefore, India now has the cheapest Telegram Premium in the world.
The move is a part of Telegram’s bid to get a bigger slice of the market dominated by Meta-owned WhatsApp, which has around 500 Mn users in the country. Telegram sees India, where it has amassed around 120 Mn users, as a key market. The Dubai-based messaging platform has 700 Mn users globally, according to analytics firm data.ai.
Telegram Premium offers features such as an increased limit to include up to 1,000 channels, 20 folders, 10 pins, 20 public links and four accounts, among others. The Dubai-based messaging platform also doubles the upload size to 4 GB in the premium version, while also removing the limits on download speeds.
With the price cut, the messaging platform has joined the growing list of international companies that have reduced their prices in India in a bid to scale in the country.
Last year, Netflix reduced its prices to include more paying customers. Besides, Apple Music, Spotify and Amazon Prime are among the others that charge lower subscription fees in India.
Telegram has had a fair share of controversies in India. In late 2019, amid reports of the use of Israeli spyware Pegasus to snoop on Indian WhatsApp users, Telegram emerged as an alternate option for Indian users along with Signal. However, it was quickly revealed that Telegram did not have enough security either.
One of the biggest problems with Telegram is the rampant piracy that happens on the platform. In many such instances, the messaging app has escaped by evoking the Information Technology Act. Telegram has repeatedly claimed to be an intermediary and evaded any responsibility for the content being circulated.
In 2020, Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran sued the messaging app for some channels illegally sharing the publication’s e-paper edition. Similarly, this year, a coaching centre based in Delhi dragged it to court after the directors of the centre discovered that their video lectures were being circulated illegally. In both instances, Telegram took the intermediary route.
However, in the latter case, the Delhi High Court directed Telegram to submit details of the channels that were involved, stating that the messaging app can’t rely on freedom of speech and expression to escape legal action.
The government is also looking at regulating over-the-top communications apps like Telegram and WhatsApp. The recently-released draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022 has proposed to extend the definition of telecommunication services to include OTT services.
